Brexit - the 2016 referendum on European Union membership

• Author: Antonio Goucha Soares
• Position: Antonio Goucha Soares - Jean Monnet Professor of European Law, ISEG ? Lisbon School of Economics & Management, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal, agsoares@iseg.ulisboa.pt.
• Pages: 519-534

Studies and Comments

Brexit - the 2016 referendum on European Union membership

Professor Antonio Goucha SOARES1

Abstract

This article explores the Brexit referendum, focusing on the political events that led

to the vote, namely, the Conservative Party’s retur n to power, David Cameron’s attempts to

appea se the European divide within his par ty and the role played by the British Pa rliament

in the whole process. It then discusses whether the r eferendum was the most suitable way to

decide on European Union membership, considering the sovereignty of the British

Par liament, as well as the contrast between representa tive democracy and direct democracy.

Keywords: Brexit; Europea n Unio n; r eferendum; representa tive democra cy;

United Kingdom.

JEL Classification: K33

1. Introduction

The relationship between the UK and European integration has been

problematic from the beginning. The Hague Congress in 1948 was the first step in

the process of an ever closer Union, for it enabled the creation of the Council of

Europe in London the following year, yet Winston Churchill, who chaired the

Congress, called for the making of a Union between European States in which the

United Kingdom should not take part.

Nor, in the 1950s, did the United Kingdom join the European Economic

Communities, the initiative that would lead to the Treaties of Rome in 1957. On the

contrary, the United Kingdom promoted the European Free Trade Association,

whose aim was to counterbalance the Common Market.

It was only after two failed attempts to join the European Communities in

the 1960s – the result of President De Gaulle's veto - that the United Kingdom signed

the Treaty of Accession in 1972, paving the way for the so-called widening of

European integration.

However, the British Parliament’s decision to join the European Common

Market raised strong domestic controversy. As a result, it was submitted to a first

referendum on European membership in 1975. This referendum was called by a

Labor government whose leftwing had opposed the accession to the European

Communities promoted by a Conservative government. The referendum aimed to

appease the distrust towards a large European market among the party's

1 Antonio Goucha Soares - Jean Monnet P rofessor of European Law, ISEG – Lisbon School of

Economics & Management, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal, agsoares@iseg.ulisboa.pt.

520 Juridical Tribune Volume 9, Issue 3, December 2019

constituency, especially the working class vote2. In addition to the Labor leftwing,

the national movements of Scotland and Wales supported the UK’s exit from the

European Communities. However, in an election with an important turnout rate, two-

thirds of voters confirmed European membership (64%).3

The course of the United Kingdom in the European construction has been

marked by a clear singularity, which has placed it in frequent contrast with its

counterparts, particularly with the Franco-German axis4. There are numerous

examples of British identity in the integration process, from the so-called British

rebate of Mrs. Thatcher, to the rejection of the Charter of Fundamental Social Rights

of Workers at the time of the Single European Act, from the refusal of the single

currency in Maastricht, to the rejection of the Schengen Agreement in the 1990s and

the Fiscal Compact during the euro crisis.

Moreover, throughout the deepening of European integration, the United

Kingdom frequently drew red lines against the expansion of European competences,

from the so-called social Europe to common taxation, from the Charter of

Fundamental Rights to the intergovernmental nature of the Common Foreign and

Security Policy. A striking moment in the British perspective was the debate on the

future of the Union launched by German Foreign Minister Fischer, proposing a

European Constitution and conferring a leading role for the European Parliament.

Blair, perhaps the most pro-Europeanist of the heads of government of the United

Kingdom, opposed the British vision of a Europe based on the primacy of the

Member States, with the upgrading of the European Council to the rank of a separate

institution.

In a way, the current European Union embodies the limits of the British

consensus in the four decades following the first enlargement. Throughout the

various constitutional agreements, the United Kingdom significantly shaped the

development of European construction. In some cases, the UK’s stubborn position

would in time reveal itself a wise one, as indeed happened with the so-called opting-

out from the economic and monetary union, a provision that would repair it from the

turmoil that hit the eurozone with the 2008 financial crisis.

This article analyzes the Brexit referendum, focusing on the political events

that led to the popular vote. It also aims to answer the following question: was the

referendum the right way to decide on the exit of the United Kingdom from the

European Union, taking into account the principle of the sovereignty of the British

Parliament and the model of representative democracy on which the political system

rests?

2 Evans, G., Carl, N., Dennison, J., Brexit: The Ca uses and Consequences of the UK’s Decision to

Leave the EU, in M. Castells et al. (ed.), Europe’s Crises, Cambridge: Polity Press, 2018, p. 386.

3 17,37 million votes for European membership (67.2%), against 8,47 million votes for leaving the EEC

(32.7%).

4 Matthijs, M., Europe after Brexit. A Less Perfect Union, „Foreign Affairs” 96, nº1 (2017), p. 93.